The trade deadline through the years

Update: The Rangers announced Paul Mara will have surgery to repair a facial fracture and will be out for two weeks. Whether this forces the Rangers hand when dealing before the deadline remains to be seen. Put it this way: it can’t help.

One of the cool things I inherited when I took over the Rangers beat was a list of the team’s transactions over the years that reads like a mixture of Shakespearean tragedy and Marx Brothers farce.

That, along with a commemorative pair of Sassoon circa 1979 jeans I occasionally wear have been the job’s biggest perks (OK, not really. And trust me, you’re lucky for that).

This being that special time of year, I figure some of the team’s deadline moves in the recent past were worth a look. Bear in mind these are just the deals done in the days around the deadline, so moves like last year’s Feb. 5 trade for Sean Avery or the Jan. 23, 2004 blockbuster for Jaromir Jagr are not included.

Otherwise I’d be typing for weeks.

So with that in mind, cue Kenny Rogers (Get it? “Through the years”? Anyone? Hello?):

<li>2007: Trade D Aaron Ward to Boston in exchange for D Paul Mara.

Trade F Pascal Dupuis and a third round draft choice to Atlanta in exchange for F Alex Bourret.

Specifics of the league don’t really matter. I’m going to drop Gerber for another goalie. Emery won back the starting job in OTT and he’s a FA(in my league).

Other FA Goalies I’m thinking about:
Patrick Lalime – ‘Bulin hurt his back and may be out. Toews has been strong since back from injury and I think they may look to upgrade and take a shot at it(for once).
Carey Price – MTL is hot. Also looking to make an upgrade and no-doubt looking to make a run.

I’m not worried about what these guys do once the playoffs start, from a fantasy standpoint, it doesn’t matter. Just who’s going to get the most starts and have the best chance of winning those starts till 4/6.

Sorry to any of you upset that I posted fantasy stuff. But it’s painful to talk about old trades. And I certainly don’t want to start this trend here, but the people I work with don’t know crap about … anything really.

BTW, hindsight is 20/20 on the Bure trade. No one could have seen that his body would disintigrate so quickly. I mean, in the 51 games he played for us, the guy had 31 goals and 19 assists. In the 12 games he played the year he was traded, he had 12 goals and 8 assists. That’s REALLY good. But, it bit us in the ass.

Thank you Sam,
So what we know so far…
The Rangers overpay for players and when we make a trade we get crap in return…
Please Sather nothing major, please focus on golf and cigars over the next 30 hours!

Beer – I wouldn’t pull the trigger on getting Emery yet. His stats are still pretty bad.

*For everyone wondering about Schremp*

â€œTalent Analysis

Schremp is a wizard with the puck as a playmaker and stickhandler that loves to curl with the puck and find open teammates for a pass. Rob is an excellent passer on his forehand, he can thread the needle or make nice saucer passes but tends to make few passes on his backhand as he likes to curl back and stay on his forehand. Schremp has a wicked and accurate wrist shot in close and is very good at finding the corner or top shelf of the net. Schrempâ€™s slapshot is world class in velocity and accuracy.

His straight line skating is average at best, but he has an excellent first step and accelerates well out of the corner on the cycle. Rob most glaring flaw or areas of weakness are his strength and defensive zone play which both must improve before he is ready for the next level.

Schremp is too offensively talented to be kept out of the NHL for long but unless he can considerably improve on his shortcomings his contribution at the top level is very much in doubt. At worst he should be a power play and shootout specialist but if he can one day play consistently on the top 2 lines of a NHL team he could be very dangerous.
Future

On the NHL/AHL bubble for the 2007-08 season. Schremp will definitely be given a long look in the fall but with a summer worth of training lost due to the knee injury a Springflied sweater may be in his immediate future, at least to begin with. Expect to see Schremp get some NHL action this season.â€

So the fact that, with the Oilers being as bad as they are, he still hasnâ€™t seen NHL action, says A LOT.

Renney is in love with Hollweg & Orr and I don’t see Schremp cracking the top 9 so all this talk about a schremp deal seems silly. Schremp is just a step up from Alex Bourret. Why is Sather wasting his time?

Not much to write home about, here. Although I do see some good in the Chris Simon and a 7th-round pick in 2004 to Calgary for Jamie McLennan, Blair Betts and Greg Moore, even though McLennan was atrocious!
Josef Balej, whoa… That’s a name I’ve completely forgotten. Found out he’s still swirling around in the AHL;http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=50611

The only thing with Shremp is if he is so “offencively talented” then why hasn’t the Oilers recalled him? They currently have how many injuries to their offence? Plus they are a weak team…I would be very careful about him…ya he can dance with the puck in the air, but that hasn’t helped him numbers down there, or get him up to the nhl…buyer beware on him

Wow, that brings back some memories. It’s like a shoeless walk down a dark, treacherous, road paved in glass.Although in Sather’s defense, what he gave up for the most part didn’t amount too much either.

Sam,
Great job giving us that rundown. I didn’t realize/remember/want to remember how bad that Kovalev deal was. I believe in 1995-96, Neil Smith had a chance to trade Kovalev straight up for Shanahan (who was on the Whalers). Obviously, he should’ve pulled the trigger.

Adam V it was during the 96-97 season before Kovalev blew out his knee. The Red Wings traded Primeau for him not long after the Rangers refused to trade Kovy. Harvey agreed the York trade did sting. I liked him back then about as much as I like Dubi now. I’m not sure what’s happened to York the last few years though.

You know….Hal Gill could be available. I don’t know what kind of relationship Fletcher and Slats have. Probably not a good one knowing slats. But we should’ve chased him as a FA. He’s signed through next season for 2.1mil.

For those of you who are wondering why Schremp isn’t in the NHL yet, its because him and Lowe do not get along. He thinks he can play at the NHL level while Lowe hates the fact that he thinks he’s “better than he is” and doesn’t want to bring him up. Thats pretty much why he is kept in the AHL. its a matter of time before he gets outta there and becomes an NHL regular, hes too talented. His defensive skills can be worked on, and in Renney’s and the Rangers’ system over the long-term I think he can fit in. Fact is he’s good, really good, just a little full of himself. Nothing wrong with that if he can perform.

And lets not forget, last year we took a huge risk on Avery and it ended up paying off. Avery had already been an established NHL player and was known to just be dirty and show little offensive ability. Then he came here and look at what happened. If we take the risk by letting Jessiman and someone else go, then its a good deal for the Rangers. sure its a risk, but its got so much upside to it since Schremp is just that talented.

Beer – I doubt Ottawa gets Hossa. They’d have to give up ALOT (because their first round pick probably will be a low one), and I personally think they made their splash with the Stillman trade. Now that Neil is hurt, they may want that type of grit for the playoffs, as opposed to Hossa.

Jonny D – When you’re as bad/injured as Edmonton is, Lowe is dumb enough to keep a kid so talented in the AHL on principle/in a pissing contest. If anything he’d be up in the NHL for showcasing purposes. Unless there’s some bonus clause in his contract for number of NHL games played.

Kelly told The News the Campbell camp was disappointed in the Sabres’ contract offer last week. The proposal reportedly was for three years at about $5.75 million per season. The money was fine, but the term was unacceptable.

“At 28 years old, Brian should be getting six or seven years,” Kelly said.

The Colorado Avalanche have won the Peter Forsberg sweepstakes, signing the centre to return to the team for the rest of the season.

Forsberg spent most of the 2007-08 season recovering from his foot and ankle injuries and recently said it was ‘uncertain’ that he would return to the NHL.

The five-time All-Star played in 57 games in 2006-07 with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators last season, posting 13 goals and 55 points. He was dealt to the Predators at the trade deadline for Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent and first and third-round draft picks in 2007.

Prior to the trade, Forsberg was limited to 40 games with the Flyers because of a lingering foot injury, but still managed to register 11 goals and 40 points. He has been slowed by injuries over the last few seasons, undergoing surgery on both ankles last summer.

Forsberg was originally drafted sixth overall by the Flyers in the 1991 Entry Draft. He was dealt to the Quebec Nordiques in 1992 as part of a blockbuster deal that saw Philadelphia acquire centre Eric Lindros.

In his first NHL season, Forsberg won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, scoring 50 points in 47 games.

In ten seasons with the Nordiques and Avalanche, he recorded 216 goals and 741 points. He won the Stanley Cup twice with the Avalanche (1996 and 2001) and won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in 2003 when he recorded 106 points in 75 games.

In August of 2005, Forsberg returned to the team that drafted him when he signed a two-year $11.5-million contract with the Flyers.

The six-foot, 205-pound centre has played in 697 regular-season games over his 12-year career, recording 248 goals and 871 points.

He is also a veteran of international play, having represented Sweden at four Winter Olympics (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006) – winning gold twice. He’s played in five World Championships (1992, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2004), two World Cups (1996 and 2004), and two World Junior Championships (1992 and 1993).

besides giving up picks for bure, we didn’t give much up for anyone, but sather just got nothing in return when he hosted his version of a firesale. Let’s remember this was the guy who trade Messier for Bernie Nichols. I just remember how funny it was that all of those players were traded to Canadian teams….Sather is such a jackass.

And York fell apart (think he had concussion problems too), he just couldnt handle a full season of the way he tried to play , no loss there, tho a good guy

The Kovalev deal was a good one when it happened. He had 55 points in 90 games as a Ranger in his second stint, was playing horribly and getting booed, and showed he was only there to collect a check. Balej was supposed to be very, very good and fizzled horribly.

OBVIOUSLY ADAMZ, you probably became an NHL fan after the strike because my friend Peter Forsberg originated with the then Quebec Nordiques who went to Colorado and changed they’re name to the Avalanche and he has been playing for the Avs for quite a while then he went on to the Flyers. Check his stats next time, before putting your foot in your mouth.

Uh, Leetch, you’re going to look foolish. He was drafted by Philly. Traded, along with a few others, for Lindros,who was drafted by the Nordiques, for whom he didn’t want to play. In fact, it was that trade that basically made the Avs a great team.

No, Leetch2 Adamz is correct. Forsberg was property of the Flyers who traded his rights away to Quebec for Lindros (after Lindros threw a fit and didn’t want to play for the Nordiques).

On June 30, 1992, Lindros was sent to the Flyers for Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duchesne, two first-round picks (one used to select Jocelyn Thibault and the other traded twice, eventually used by the Capitals to draft Nolan Baumgartner) and $15 million.

Regardless, Forsberg is going to do nothing for the Avs. He’s not a great player anymore and especially plaing in the Western Conference were teams like Anaheim will absolutely punish him with their physical play. I don’t see that helping them.

In fact, what it might do is force a team like Vancouver or Calgary to overpay for a guy like Brad Richards (which is not good news for a Rangers fan that wants to acquire Boyle).

Rangers would send goalie Vanbiesbrouck along with forwards Amonte, Aleksei Kovalev and Doug Weight. three first round draft picks (1993, 1994 & 1995) and 12 million. (and Patrick and Nechimnov are also mentioned to have been included)

I mean that would haven been one of the most absurdly lopsided trades ever. One player is no way worth all that, i

Nick B. – I disagree. Forsberg’s injuries have never been from the result of physical play. He has chronic foot/ankle problems that are genetic, he’s a had a concussion or 2, but it was never from physical play, or the result of a hit.

Not at the time. Just to make it comparable: Lindros was touted as highly as Crosby was. Forsberg was Nick Backstrom. Overpaid a bit? Yeah. but based on the information, it was supposed to be a franchise, epic, guaranteed hall of famer.

Eleven billionaires currently own all of or a stake in 10 of the NHLâ€™s franchises. (Not included in this group is the Minnesota Wild. Craig Leipold bought a stake in the club this January but technically his wife, Helen Johnson-Leipold, is the billionaire in the family.)

According to payroll data from Nhlscap.com, the teams with billionaire owners are on track to spend an average of US$47.8-million on player salaries during the current season. The 20 teams without billionaire owners are on track to spend an average of US$45.1-million this season. That US$2.7-million difference between the two groups is a notable amount in the NHL. Itâ€™s enough to pay this yearâ€™s salary for an All-Star like Henrik Zetterberg. The Red Wings winger is tied for third in the NHL in total points this year.

Thereâ€™s a correlation between the extra spending and winning. As of Friday, billionaire-owned teams were averaging 62.3 points for the season. Teams not owned by billionaires were averaging 59.8 points.

Prucha27 and the rest of you that think Foppa will help the Avs…he’s not. He’s going to do the same thing he did with the Preds last year. Contribute here and there and try to win a round. Remember, he hasn’t played an NHL game in a year. There’s a reason guys like Selanne and Niedermayer came back earlier and that’s to get their body back into the grind.

In the West, there’s Detroit and Anaheim and then there’s everybody else. If he had gone to a contending team in the East, I would have whistled a different tune because the East is totally up for grabs. For example he would have fit in perfectly with the Habs. However he and they (Colorado) in a no win situation in Colorado because they are NOT making it past the second round. Detroit and Anaheim are too good.

“Wow if that isnâ€™t a lopsided tradeâ€¦Iâ€™d have thought that Lindros for Forsberg straight up was more than fair. Goes to show you how dumb Clarke is.”

At the time, I know it seems lopsided, but it was actually a pretty fair deal. I mean Lindros almost came to the Rangers but the Flyers complained and the arbitrator awarded them Lindros. The Flyers were dominant for years and Lindros was one of the leagues best players even though he seemed to be always hurt. He was one of the most dominating players before the Stevens hit pretty much shut up his career. The Avs did get a much better team and did win a cup in 96 with a lot of those guys, but its not like the Flyers were in the cellar all that time. They were in the tops of the East for many years.

I would say the Avalanche *lost* the Forsberg sweepstakes and everybody else won. He’s probably only gonna be healthy for half of the games, and will disrupt whatever lines they have there now. I wonder if this makes them more apt to trade a forward now that Sakic is back, as well.

Beer Me! – Tough call. I think Emery is the choice, since he has the best shot of starting the most games of the three. Lalime has been playing well, but I’m not sure that he can keep it up as a starter. It’s been since he was on Ottawa that he’s been any good. Price is playing decently, but I think Montreal will rely on Huet down the stretch, since he has been just as good and has more experience. Depending how large your league is, Lalime and Price may just stay available in the FA pool, depending how long ‘Bulin is out.

I could see Sather making a Jessiman and Prucha for Schremp trade. That seems pretty fair, if Lowe is willing to take Jessiman, but a big risk for us. At this point, I would endorse it as long as Schremp can play wing. He could start in Hartford, come up at the first sign of injury.

KrEK – Nice, *swirling around in the AHL*

We had four picks in the 2004 fourth round, including Dubsinky, so the argument can be made that the pick of Graham allowed us to pick Dubinsky, if you really want to stretch it.
Rangers picked Dane Byers from the Nedved trade.
Flames picked Matt Schneider (not the vet D-man) from the Simon trade
Rangers picked Zdenek Bahensky from the Barnaby trade
Thrashers picked Ondrej Pavelic from the Malakhov trade (I guess we traded that pick to them?)
Flames picked Eric Nystrom from the Bure trade (Florida must have traded our first-rounder to them?)
Panthers picked Rob Globke from the Bure trade
Thrashers picked Guillaume Desbiens from the Bure trade (4th round pick from Florida to Atlanta?)
Rangers picked Lee Farlardeau from the Bure trade
Oilers picked Ivan Koltsov from York trade

I guess the York trade hurt also because we got Poti? Haha. Nobody really came out of the draft picks from the Bure trade, excpet Nystrom could still possibly amount to something, but it’s getting late.

Beer Me! – Carey Price is starting tomorrow, however, so maybe they are trying to ride him. http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=10460&hubname= I still go with Emery though. He’s a good goalie with an attitude, which can help while playing, hurt while practicing.

As a Rangers fan we all owe Larry Bertuzzi a big thank you for ruling that the Flyers completed the deal to get Lindros before the Rangers did. I remember even as an 11 year old how ridiculous I thought that trade was. It did cost Philly at least a Cup.

As for the firesale of 04; Rangers got Valliquette and Betts (and more) out of it in the very least, and who knows what Sauer and Korpikoski (who I think will be traded to EDM for Schremp) will turn into. Hey, at least they got Nedved off the roster.

As for Jozef Balej, dude had a ton of talent and was fun to wathc yet had a bad training camp in 05-06 and had a freak accident where he was speared in the kidney and went into semi-retirement for a year. I wish him the best, and hope that maybe one day he can make it back to the NHL.

Chris, as soon as the first trade is made, expect them all to start flying. For instance, all of the teams looking for Hossa have put their offers in. ATL is probably making one last contrct offer to Hossa. If they see they can’t sign him, they’ll take the best offer. Then, all of those other teams will have to scramble to make deals for other players. Same issue with Boyle. Now that Brad Richards is in the mix, TB’s management wants to keep Boyle if they can move Richards. So, it’s all building, and once there is a crack, the floodgates will open.

Draft picks are always a gamble …cough…Pavel Brendl, so don’t get all upset for getting “nothing” for leetch and kovy. To be honest, I wouldn’t want any of those players back on our team today. The only one still putting up respectable numbers is #27 who always played better against us than he did for us.

pig – you bet. I can’t decide what to do yet. Swap my current #3 man (gerber) for Emery? I’m looking at it as simple as, who’s going to get more starts. I think it’s Ray from the way Paddock sounds.

doodie – 100% on 1 of those 3/4 going tomorrow. I read somewhere(don’t remember) that the new TB ownership(who hasn’t taken total control yet) wants both players moved. But who knows what’s true in the 48hrs or so leading up to the deadline. Not much of it, I know that.

BTW, the Sens are hot for Hossa. If they trade for him, they’ll essentially be trading whatever they trade for him, plus Greg De Vries, for Dany Heatley. It’s rumored that the offer is a first, a top prospect, and Antoine Vermette. So, in essence, Vermette, De Vries, pick, and prospect, for Dany Heatley. Wow. What a steal.

doodie – thanks. I heard something along those lines which is why I’m going to make a move. I just don’t trust that they’ll stick with him. He’ll probably be 5min late to practice and get benched for it….my luck.

Buff over Philly hands down. I kind of view the Sabres as the NY Jets of the NHL; like a little brother who you don’t really hate and end up rooting for every now and then. Yeah, I know about last year but I’m not that bitter; it would have been awesome to go to the Conference finals and last year’s team was a lot of fun, but they probably would’ve had a hard time with OTT, Drury signed with NYR, and they maybe would have not been able to draft Cherepanov with the draft pick bumped down so who knows. Buf is competing with the Rangers this year, but they don’t seem as evil. (don’t get me started on their bandwagon fans though).